Why compare the traditional business models publishing between recorded music and books?
Unlike other forms of art, the traditional business models of recorded music and books have distinct similarities when it comes to development and sales to large groups of consumers not shared by other art forms. Other forms of art, such as sculpture, painting, performance art, etc. are mediums that have physical constraints requiring completely different business models for selling to consumers. While copies of some of them can be mass-produced, their intrinsic value lies in the uniqueness as a one-of-a-kind, original creations. They aren’t edited, can’t be digitized, almost exclusively are the work of one individual, and an exact duplicate cannot be made. Photography shares some of the same characteristics as music and books since its duplication causes no loss of fidelity, and like music and eBooks, it is available through the same channels. Movies, considered an art form by some, have a business model for the sales of DVD’s that looks similar to books and recorded music, but are on
